Handy IEC Mobile Apps for the tech-savvy first-time voter

With Election Day around the corner, it’s important to start getting “election-ready”. Questions like whether you have your bar-coded South African ID booklet ready, if you are registered and if you know which voting station to go to should be at the forefront of your mind right now. People’s Assembly may not be able to help you locate your lost ID, but we can show you a mobile application that will simplify your life and put all those election concerns at bay.

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has created a mobile application that you can download to your smart phone, which gives you a plethora of information concerning your voter registration details, election results for the past three elections, who the party candidates are and how many seats all the parties hold in Parliament, and contact details for the IEC.

For those of us who prefer having the information quickly, or rather, at the light tap of our fingertips against our touch screens, this is a great app. South Africa might be a while away from electronic voting, but we do seem to be catching up in some aspects in terms of technology.

By entering your ID number into one of the features of the app, you will have access to your voter registration details, voting station information, ward number, ward councillor information, special vote application status and if you’re voting abroad – your VEC1- notification status. Furthermore, the app gives you a map of your voting station if you cannot locate it. Scrolling through the Frequently Asked Questions might also be a good idea if you’re a little hazy about the voting process.

The IEC has also developed a handy app for the youth or first time voters. The IXSA app gives you a virtual experience of the voting g process. Once you download the app it allows you to create an avatar whose mission it is to earn points by answering simple questions about the voting process. The user is able to move the avatar through the voting process, starting from the avatar’s house, to the voting station where s/he will walk through the ID checking and registration process, be marked off the voters’ roll, having your thumbnail inked, receiving the provincial and national ballot papers, voting in the private voting booth, and putting the sealed ballot papers in the correct ballot boxes.

The IXSA app gives you a virtual experience of the voting process.